Puigdemont returned to Sardinia for the extradition hearing. His lawyer: "He will certainly remain free"

The former president of the Catalan Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, arrived in Sardinia to attend the hearing scheduled for tomorrow at 11 in the Court of Appeal in Sassari. The judges will have to decide whether to accept or reject the request for extradition made against him by the Spanish judicial authority (which requested his immediate surrender).

The independence leader landed just before 9 am on board the plane coming from Charleroi, Belgium. He greeted reporters without making any statements. Now he will reach Sassari to confront the Sassari lawyer Agostinangelo Marras, who will assist him tomorrow during the hearing in front of the college chaired by the magistrate Salvatore Marinaro.

According to Marras, Puigdemont "will certainly remain at liberty" after the hearing and will be able to "return to Brussels" where he holds the post of MEP, despite being wanted by Spanish justice. He said this on the Catalan public television Tv3, for the program Preguntes Frequents.

In the meantime, his lawyers have filed an urgent appeal to regain immunity from MEP, which is currently suspended.

THE PROGRAM - Tomorrow in Sassari, in addition to the Sardinian separatists who will preside over the Court of Appeal with a demonstration in support of the former Catalan leader, a counter-demonstration by the nationalist militants of Vox was also announced with the presence of the Vox legal deputy secretary, Marta Castro.

From the entourage of Puigdemont they let it be known that, "for security reasons", neither before nor after the hearing the former president will release statements to the press present on the spot. His press conference is scheduled for 6.30 in Alghero, at the Quartè Sayal, with the lawyers Gonzalo Boye and Agostinangelo Marras.

THE ARREST - Stopped on 23 September at Alghero airport, where he had come to participate in the Catalan folklore festival and an initiative organized by the Corona de Logu, Puigdemont was released the next day after a night in Bancali.

After the disputed independence referendum in Catalonia, in October 2017, he became the protagonist of an intricate judicial and international affair. Since then he has lived in exile in Belgium.

(Unioneonline / D)